Search Results (3,309)

Lubricants play a crucial role in improving the reliability of internal combustion engines. The deterioration of engine oil is influenced not only by mileage and usage time but also by subjective factors. Currently, engine oil is replaced in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations. At the time of a scheduled oil change, two situations may arise: the degree of lubricant wear may exceed normal levels, in which case the technical systems may also be damaged, with serious consequences for the environment and, implicitly, for human health; or the degree of wear may be low, consistent with normal engine operation, in which case prolonging oil use is recommended, thereby reducing consumption. In this paper, the authors propose a method for diagnosing the engine through periodic analysis of the physico-chemical properties of used engine oil, based on which appropriate vehicle maintenance strategies are issued. Also, recommendations are made for prolonged use of the oil on the condition of its periodic evaluation. Thus, for samples taken from 43 trucks the following physico-chemical properties were analyzed: kinematic viscosity, density, flash point, fuel content, water content, and metal content and their values, for all samples, were within the recommended limits. However, for some samples, more pronounced variations in the values of some properties were found and suitable preventive maintenance recommendations were issued. Full article

The Marburg virus (MARV) is a zoonotic pathogen that causes a high case fatality rate of up to 100% in humans. In response to Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreaks in the Kagera region, an ecological investigation was initiated to map the population and ecological threat to the reservoir host of MARV: Egyptian fruit bats. The investigation conducted from October 2023 to December 2024 included interviews with local authorities to locate all known autochthonous bat colonies in the region. Bat species confirmation was performed using high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) and DNA barcoding, targeting two mitochondrial genes: cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) and 16S rRNA. We found five considerably large cave-dwelling Egyptian fruit bat colonies (with approximately 100,000 individuals) at the geolocations between 1°06′04.2″ and 2°26′35.8″ S latitude and 30°40′49.7″ and 31°51′19.8″ E longitude. The study also provides the first confirmed identification of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) (accession numbers: PV700530-PV700534) in major bat colonies in the Kagera River Basin ecosystem. Cave-dwelling Egyptian fruit bats in mines face higher risks, and thus, attention is needed to prevent this species from becoming more vulnerable to extinction. The loss of bat roosting sites and subsequent population declines are primarily driven by the destructive practice of burning car tyres and logs, a method used to eliminate colonies through toxic smoke and heat. The collection of guano and partially eaten fruits in mining caves, as well as daily contact with Egyptian fruit bats in mines, homes, and churches, have become major potential risk factors for MARV transmission to humans. Increased threats to bats in the Kagera region warrant the implementation of conservation strategies that ensure the survival of the bat populations and inform policies on MVD risk reduction in Tanzania and the broader East African region. Full article

Recent advances in vision-language models such as BLIP-2 have made AI-generated image descriptions increasingly fluent and difficult to distinguish from human-authored texts. This paper investigates whether such differences can still be reliably detected by introducing a novel bilingual dataset of English and Romanian captions. The English subset was derived from the T4SA dataset, while AI-generated captions were produced with BLIP-2 and translated into Romanian using MarianMT; human-written Romanian captions were collected via manual annotation. We analyze the problem from two perspectives: (i) semantic alignment, using CLIP similarity, and (ii) supervised classification with both traditional and transformer-based models. Our results show that BERT achieves over 95% cross-validation accuracy (F1 = 0.95, ROC AUC = 0.99) in distinguishing AI from human texts, while simpler classifiers such as Logistic Regression also reach competitive scores (F1 ≈ 0.88). Beyond classification, semantic and linguistic analyses reveal systematic cross-lingual differences: English captions are significantly longer and more verbose, whereas Romanian texts—often more concise—exhibit higher alignment with visual content. Romanian was chosen as a representative low-resource language, where studying such differences provides insights into multilingual AI detection and challenges in vision-language modeling. These findings emphasize the novelty of our contribution: a publicly available bilingual dataset and the first systematic comparison of human vs. AI-generated captions in both high- and low-resource languages. Full article

Background/Objectives: In Japan, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction process is unique, and no HPV knowledge scale with established reliability and validity currently exists. This study aimed to develop a new HPV knowledge scale and evaluate its reliability and validity for practical use. Methods: With permission from the original authors of the HPV Knowledge Scale (Jo Waller et al.), we created a Japanese version incorporating the original two subscales and adding new items. The translation process involved multiple researchers, back-translation by a professional agency, and expert review to ensure linguistic and contextual accuracy. The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Review Board of the researchers’ affiliated universities and conducted between April and August 2024. Results: Reliability and validity were assessed using data from 793 parents of junior high school students, including both boys and girls. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good model fit (Goodness-of-Fit Index [GFI] = 0.934, Adjusted GFI [AGFI] = 0.907, Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.928, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA] = 0.063). Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.688 to 0.845 and item-total correlations ranged from 0.393 to 0.584. Test–retest reliability, assessed with Spearman’s rank correlation, was r = 0.791 (p < 0.001). The final scale, named the Japan HPV Knowledge Scale (J-HPV-KS), includes 17 items across five factors. Conclusions: The J-HPV-KS covers HPV-related diseases, transmission routes, natural history, and vaccines. It demonstrated sufficient reliability and validity for use in Japan and is a useful tool for assessing HPV-related knowledge among Japanese parents and guardians. Full article

Protection of coastal cultural heritage is among the most urgent global priorities, as these sites face increasing threats from climate change, sea level rise, and human activity. This study emphasises the value of innovative geospatial tools and data ecosystems for timely risk assessment. The role of land administration systems, geospatial documentation of coastal cultural heritage sites, and the adoption of innovative techniques that combine various methodologies is crucial for timely action. The coastal management infrastructure in Greece is presented, outlining the key public authorities and national legislation, as well as the land administration and geospatial ecosystems and the various available geospatial ecosystems. We profile the Hellenic Cadastre and the Hellenic Archaeological Cadastre along with open geospatial resources, and introduce TRIQUETRA Decision Support System (DSS), produced through the EU’s Horizon project, and a Digital Twin methodology for hazard identification, quantification, and mitigation. Particular emphasis is given to the role of Digital Twin technology, which acts as a continuously updated virtual replica of coastal cultural heritage sites, integrating heterogeneous geospatial datasets such as cadastral information, photogrammetric 3D models, climate projections, and hazard simulations, allowing for stakeholders to test future scenarios of sea level rise, flooding, and erosion, offering an advanced tool for resilience planning. The approach is validated at the coastal archaeological site of Aegina Kolona, where a UAV-based SfM-MVS survey produced using high-resolution photogrammetric outputs, including a dense point cloud exceeding 60 million points, a 5 cm resolution Digital Surface Model, high-resolution orthomosaics with a ground sampling distance of 1 cm and 2.5 cm, and a textured 3D model using more than 6000 nadir and oblique images. These products provided a geospatial infrastructure for flood risk assessment under extreme rainfall events, following a multi-scale hydrologic–hydraulic modelling framework. Island-scale simulations using a 5 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were coupled with site-scale modelling based on the high-resolution UAV-derived DEM, allowing for the nested evaluation of water flow, inundation extents, and velocity patterns. This approach revealed spatially variable flood impacts on individual structures, highlighted the sensitivity of the results to watershed delineation and model resolution, and identified critical intervention windows for temporary protection measures. We conclude that integrating land administration systems, open geospatial data, and Digital Twin technology provides a practical pathway to proactive and efficient management, increasing resilience for coastal heritage against climate change threats. Full article

This article illuminates the cosmology of Raa Haqi (often called Dersim Alevism or Kurdish Alevism), a rarely examined strand within Alevi Studies. Existing scholarship’s emphasis on identity politics and sparse ethnography has left Raa Haqi’s mythological and cosmological dimensions underexplored. This paper approaches Raa Haqi through a dual authority framework: (1) Ocak lineages and Ocak–talip relations—sustained by kinship institutions like kirvelik, musahiplik, and communal rites such as the cem—and (2) jiares, non-human agents from the Batın realm that manifest in Zahir as sacred places, objects, and animals. Methodologically, I conduct a close, motif-based reading of folktales compiled by Caner Canerik (2019, Dersim Masalları I), treating them as ethnographic windows into living theology. The analysis shows that tales encode core principles—rızalık (mutual consent), ikrar (vow), sır (the secret knowledge), fasting and calendrical rites, ritual kinship, and moral economies involving humans, animals, and Batın beings. Dreams, metamorphosis, and jiare-centered orientations structure time–space, ethics, and authority beyond the Ocak, including in individual re-sacralizations of objects and sites. I conclude that these narratives do not merely reflect belief; they actively transmit, test, and renew Raa Haqi’s cosmological order, offering Alevi Studies a theory-grounded, source-proximate account of Kurdish Alevi mythic thought. Full article

This study examines how cognitive biases may shape ethical decision-making in AI-mediated environments, particularly within education and research. As AI tools increasingly influence human judgment, biases such as normalization, complacency, rationalization, and authority bias can lead to ethical lapses, including academic misconduct, uncritical reliance on AI-generated content, and acceptance of misinformation. To explore these dynamics, we developed an LLM-generated synthetic behavior estimation framework that modeled six decision-making scenarios with probabilistic representations of key cognitive biases. The scenarios addressed issues ranging from loss of human agency to biased evaluations and homogenization of thought. Statistical summaries of the synthetic dataset indicated that 71% of agents engaged in unethical behavior influenced by biases like normalization and complacency, 78% relied on AI outputs without scrutiny due to automation and authority biases, and misinformation was accepted in 65% of cases, largely driven by projection and authority biases. These statistics are descriptive of this synthetic dataset only and are not intended as inferential claims about real-world populations. The findings nevertheless suggest the potential value of targeted interventions—such as AI literacy programs, systematic bias audits, and equitable access to AI tools—to promote responsible AI use. As a proof-of-concept, the framework offers controlled exploratory insights, but all reported outcomes reflect text-based pattern generation by an LLM rather than observed human behavior. Future research should validate and extend these findings with longitudinal and field data. Full article

People with disabilities often face challenges like moving around independently and depending on personal caregivers for daily life activities. Traditional assistive devices are universally accepted by these communities, but they are designed with one-size-fits-all approaches that cannot adjust to individual human sizes, are not easily customized, and are made from rigid materials that do not adapt as a person’s condition changes over time. This systematic review examines the integration of smart materials, sensors, actuators, and 3D/4D printing technologies in advancing assistive devices, with a particular emphasis on mobility aids. In this work, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of traditional devices with commercially available innovative prototypes and research stage assistive devices by focusing on smart adaptable materials and sustainable additive manufacturing techniques. The results demonstrate how artificial intelligence drives smart assistive devices in hospital decentralized additive manufacturing, and policy frameworks agree with the Sustainable Development Goals, representing the future direction for adaptive assistive technology. Also, by combining 3D/4D printing and AI, it is possible to produce adaptive, affordable, and patient centered rehabilitation with feedback and can also provide predictive and preventive healthcare strategies. The successful commercialization of adaptive assistive devices relies on cost effective manufacturing techniques clinically aligned development supported by cross disciplinary collaboration to ensure scalable, sustainable, and universally accessible smart solutions. Ultimately, it paves the way for smart, sustainable, and clinically viable assistive devices that outperform conventional solutions and promote equitable access for all users. Full article

In this article, we explain how Kant upends the terms of the debate concerning the relationship between God’s existence and an objective morality by looking at his moral-teleological argument for God’s existence in the third Critique. We explain Kant’s rejection of external sources of moral normativity and his method of grounding moral authority in the normativity of practical reason. We then turn to Kant’s argument justifying a practical belief in God as the moral author of nature. Kant’s claims about how we must conceptualize organisms teleologically and, as a result, how reason seeks an unconditioned end of nature, brings together our moral purpose with a conception of nature as an organized whole. Since our teleological concepts of organisms seem to require that human beings serve as the final, unconditioned end of nature, but morality and nature might be incompatible and divergent, we must also believe in a moral author of nature. This belief guards against demoralization and creates a unified view of the human moral agent and the world she inhabits, which Kant thinks of as indispensable for our practical lives. Kant notoriously blurs the lines between theology and ethics in nonstandard ways. Although he rejects many traditional approaches to grounding ethics in a conception of divine commands or eternal law, he still devotes a considerable amount of time to discussing the role of religion as a bulwark of the moral life. The goal of this paper is to defend Kant’s relevance to a discussion of the relationship between an objective ethics and the existence of God; his contribution deserves our notice precisely for the ways in which it promises to shift the terms of the contemporary debate and complicate possible answers to the question of whether there can be an objective morality without God. In contemporary philosophical literature, Kant’s argument contending that we must hope in God from a practical point of view on pain of irrationality of acting from duty has enjoyed substantial discussion. Here, however, we focus on a lesser-known suite of arguments that in order to so much as cognize ourselves and other species as the sorts of natural beings they are, we must believe in a supersensible moral author of these natures. This set of arguments ultimately dovetail with the more well-known argument for theistic hope and operate in much the same way. But they touch on facets of Kant’s whole philosophical system, such as his account of teleological judgment and the unity and final end of all of nature. Our goal is to explicate these arguments and illuminate their relevance of these Kantian arguments to the debate about the relevance of God to objective morality. We will argue that while an objective ethics is possible without God due to the active role of practical reason in rational agents, belief in God’s existence strengthens the claims of morality, both for psychological reasons but also by providing a more unified conception of moral and natural reality. Full article

In recent years, insects have emerged as a nutritious and eco-sustainable alternative food source, with the house cricket (Acheta domesticus, AD) recently authorized by the European Commission as a novel food. However, the presence of harmful substances in insects poses potential health risks. This study investigated the content of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), and aluminium (Al) in Acheta domesticus fed diets enriched with graded levels of the red seaweed Palmaria palmata or the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum in two feeding trials. Chemical analyses were carried out by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry for all elements except Hg, which was analyzed by thermal decomposition amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry. The results showed that PTE content in the diets was below the legal limits for feed. The PTEs in AD ranged (mg kg⁻¹ dry matter) as follows: Cd (0.069 ± 0.005–0.127 ± 0.002), As (0.08 ± 0.01–0.36 ± 0.03), Pb (0.05 ± 0.01–0.12 ± 0.01), Hg (0.0065 ± 0.0002–0.0141 ± 0.0010), Ni (0.64 ± 0.06–1.20 ± 0.10), Cr (0.16 ± 0.02–0.58 ± 0.01), and Al (17 ± 2–61 ± 1). AD bioaccumulated As and Hg; however, the PTE levels remained below European Union food safety limits. The absence of non-carcinogenic risk for consumers suggests that AD fed seaweed-enriched diets are a safe, healthy, and low-chemical risk food for humans. Full article

Vilobelimab, a first-in-class, human–mouse chimeric immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) kappa monoclonal antibody, targets human complement component 5a (C5a) in plasma. Unlike upstream complement inhibitors, vilobelimab does not inhibit the generation of the membrane attack complex (C5b-9), necessary to mitigate certain infections. C5a is a strong anaphylatoxin and chemotactic agent that plays an essential role in both innate and adaptive immunity. Elevated levels of C5a have been associated with pathologic processes, including sepsis and inflammatory respiratory disorders such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Blocking C5a with vilobelimab has shown therapeutic promise. A randomized, multicenter placebo-controlled Phase III study of vilobelimab in patients with severe COVID-19 (PANAMO) found that patients treated with vilobelimab had a significantly lower risk of death by day 28 and 60. Based on this study, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Gohibic^® (vilobelimab) injection for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adults when initiated within 48 h of receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In January 2025, the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization for Gohibic^® (vilobelimab) for the treatment of adult patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-induced ARDS who are receiving systemic corticosteroids as part of standard of care and receiving IMV with or without ECMO. Herein, we review the mechanism of action of vilobelimab in selectively inhibiting C5a-induced inflammation, outlining its bench-to-bedside development from the fundamental biology of the complement system and preclinical evidence through to the clinical data demonstrating its life-saving potential in the management of COVID-19–induced ARDS. Full article

Vaccination has resulted in substantial public health benefits for human populations worldwide since it was first introduced more than a century ago. This article presents an overview of the history of vaccine development, its implementation, and price setting, the latter mainly from a developed world perspective. It considers potential issues and challenges. Over time, vaccine development and production has evolved to a market-driven approach, conducted largely by private commercial entities. The complex processes of identifying potential vaccine targets and developing and producing vaccines at scale have now become more efficient. However, vaccine pricing is an emerging concern. The elements that maximize the overall health benefit of vaccination include high volume, high coverage, and rapid initial implementation to achieve the high coverage with the vaccine as quickly as possible. It therefore requires substantial initial investment. Consequently, the price set for the vaccine should be reasonable to avoid limiting the coverage given the available budget. Suboptimal coverage leads to suboptimal benefit if herd protection is not fully achieved. This may disappoint health authorities and may result in program discontinuation. Conventional cost-effectiveness analysis is therefore not ideally suited to vaccine price setting, as it is based on the concept of ‘more for more’, i.e., higher health gain achieved at a higher reimbursement cost that does not account for limited budgets. Constrained optimization (CO) combines value assessment with constrained budget allocation into one analysis method and may therefore be the better option for vaccine pricing. Full article

Scientific awareness is rising regarding fish and sea invertebrates’ sensitivity to the sound field’s particle motion component. The AquaVib, a distinctive laboratory setup, provides a practical methodology for controlled sound exposure experiments on small aquatic organisms, enabling a separate assessment of their acoustic pressure- and particle motion-elicited responses across a range of realistic scenarios. The chosen facility design permits the reproduction of realistic sound exposures at different kinetic-to-potential energy ratios, with characteristics similar to underwater-radiated noise from human activities such as shipping or offshore installations (<1 kHz). It provides a cost-efficient multimodal approach to investigate potential physiological, pathological, and ultrastructural effects on small aquatic organisms at any stage of maturity. This study details the vibroacoustic characterization of the AquaVib system, identifies key challenges, and outlines planned improvements. The ultimate goal of the presented approach is to contribute to the scientific community and competent authorities in covering the main gaps in current knowledge on the sensitivity of aquatic organisms to the particle motion component and to identify and quantify potential acute and long-term detrimental effects arising from human activities. Full article

As stroke is becoming more frequent nowadays, cutting edge rehabilitation approaches are required to recover upper limb functionalities and to support patients during daily activities. Recently, focus has moved to robotic rehabilitation; however, therapeutic devices are still highly expensive, making rehabilitation not easily affordable. Moreover, devices are not easily accepted by patients, who can refuse to use them due to not feeling comfortable. The presented work proposes the exploitation of a virtual prototype of the human–robot ecosystem for the study and analysis of patient–robot interactions, enabling their simulation-based investigation in multiple scenarios. For the accomplishment of this task, the Dynamics of Multi-physical Systems platform, previously presented by the authors, is further developed to enable the integration of biomechanical models of the human body with mechatronics models of robotic devices for motion assistance, as well as with PID-based control strategies. The work begins with (1) a description of the background; hence, the current state of the art and purpose of the study; (2) the platform is then presented and the system is formalized, first from a general side and then (3) in the application-specific scenario. (4) The use case is described, presenting a controlled gym weightlifting exercise supported by an exoskeleton and the results are analyzed in a final paragraph (5). Full article

The objective of this article is to provide a critical analysis of maritime heterotopia as a category for reinterpreting ships, shipwrecks and maritime landscapes between the 16th and 18th centuries. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining history, underwater archaeology, heritage theory and literary analysis, it explores the ways in which maritime spaces, especially ships and shipwrecks, functioned as ‘other spaces’–following Foucault’s concept of heterotopia–in the articulation of imperial projects, power relations, experiences of transit and narratives of memory. A particular focus has been placed on the examination of shipwreck accounts, which are regarded as microhistories of human behaviour in contexts of crisis. These accounts have been shown to offer insights into alternative social structures, dynamics of authority, and manifestations of violence or solidarity. A review of the legal framework and practices related to shipwrecks in the Spanish Carrera de Indias is also undertaken, with particular emphasis on their impact on maritime legislation and international law. This article proposes a reading of maritime heritage as a symbolic and political device in constant dispute, where material remains and associated narratives shape collective memories, geopolitical tensions and new forms of cultural appropriation. Shipwrecks thus become sites of rupture and origin, charged with utopian, dystopian and heterotopic potential. Full article